Martin Luther King. Jr

“I have a dream” by Dr. Martin Luther King

“I Have a Dream” by Martin Luther King Jr. is one of the most impressive speeches of all time. His speech was not only about equality for blacks and whites, but equality in general. He wanted his children, and the children of the world to live in a peace where there would be no segregation. He wanted not only tolerance but acceptance. He wanted racial equality for everyone, no matter their skin colour.

It is worthy of lengthy study as we can all learn speechwriting skills from King’s historic magnum opus. Much of the greatness of this speech is tied to its historical context, a topic which goes beyond the scope of this article.

Instead, there are five key lessons which we can focus in speechwriting that we can extract from Martin Luther King’s most famous speech.

1. Emphasize phrases by repeating at the beginning of sentences

Repetitions emphasize the pattern and increase the rhetorical effect. Furthermore, repetition makes these phrases more memorable and make King’s story more memorable.  “I have a dream” is repeated in eight successive sentences.

2. Repeat key “theme” words throughout your speech

Key “theme” words are repeated throughout the body of your speech. The most commonly used noun is freedom, which is used many times in the speech. This makes sense that freedom is one of the primary themes of the speech.

3. Utilize appropriate quotations or allusions

Executed explicitly (a direct quotation) or implicitly (allusion) are used tremendously in King’s speech. We can improve the credibility of our arguments by referring to the appropriate words of credible speakers in our speech.

4. Use specific examples to “ground” your arguments

A speech is greatly improved when we provide specific examples which illustrate our logical and perhaps theoretical arguments. One way that Martin Luther King Jr. accomplishes this is to make numerous geographic references throughout the speech. For example:- Mississippi, New York (paragraph 13)

5. Use metaphors to highlight contrasting concepts

Metaphors allow us to associate our speech concepts with concrete images and emotions. For example :-  “joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity” (paragraph 2)